Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Worth Reading for the 4th

July 4 marks the end of the 238th year of the Independence of the Republic. I fear our Republic is drawing to a close. I expect to be traveling on vacation until July 10, so these skimpy posts will get skimpier. ~Bob

Egyptian sources report that senior officials in the Muslim Brotherhood have been placed under house arrest and the military is securing strategic facilities across the country. The Islamist group that backed President Mohamed Morsi in last year’s successful bid to win the nation’s first democratic election is also now being scrutinized for corruption in the ranks. The group’s funding structure and records are being probed, according to a report posted Wednesday by the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper. (Female protester in Tahrir Square interviewed by CBS said, “Morsi is ruining our country. He is spending us into oblivion. He is promoting terrorists.” An ex-general, I believe, also interviewed said, “He is ruining Egypt. Do we have to wait for total collapse?” Indicated they could see the course of Morsi and MB’s actions…want no part of it for a free Egypt. Egyptians have more balls than US, or maybe, having seen the light of freedom, want to reach for it versus enslavement to a global hierarchy....Meanwhile, US funding MB in Egypt….Barb)

Excerpt: The White House on Tuesday delayed for one year a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that businesses provide health insurance to employees, a fresh setback for President Obama’s landmark health-care overhaul as it enters a critical phase. (Setback? Yes, setback until after the midterm elections. ~Bob. The Democrats figure they won't be able to take the house of representatives, and may even lose the senate if the employer insurance mandate is implemented in 2014. No matter what anyone says, that is the reason for the delay. And the ONLY reason. --LLW)

Marines, Americans Respond To: A Public Letter To The Commandant Of The Marine Corps

Excerpt: "Poverty" once had some concrete meaning -- not enough food to eat or not enough clothing or shelter to protect you from the elements, for example. Today it means whatever the government bureaucrats, who set up the statistical criteria, choose to make it mean. And they have every incentive to define poverty in a way that includes enough people to justify welfare state spending. Most Americans with incomes below the official poverty level have air-conditioning, television, own a motor vehicle and, far from being hungry, are more likely than other Americans to be overweight. But an arbitrary definition of words and numbers gives them access to the taxpayers' money.

Excellent article by Crystal Wright, who posts as “Conservative Black Chick” and takes a lot of foul racist abuse from the “tolerant left.” ~Bob. Excerpt: As defense attorney Don West grilled Rachel Jeantel, liberal commentators fell all over themselves making excuses for Rachel’s shocking behavior in court and contempt for their process. I can tell you one thing for certain if Jeantel wasn’t black, none of these liberal pundits, especially the white ones would have made excuses for her rude behavior. They would have called it just what it was. . . unacceptable.

Excerpt: Gore has made hundreds of millions of dollars in the Marcus Licinius Crassus style of hyping a disaster and then profiting from its remedy. Gore hates carbon emissions. So much so that he dismisses those who live by them, such as coal-company executives, coal miners, and the rubes who mindlessly use coal-based electricity. But Gore also likes money and what money can do for him — SUVs, private jet travel, multiple residences. That’s why he just sold his interest in a failed cable-television network to a broadcasting network backed by a Middle Eastern authoritarian sheikhdom, known for both its anti-Semitism and its huge cash profits from the sale of fossil fuels.

Excerpt: So here’s a question that’s nagging at me as we watch millions of Egyptians express their loathing for Mohamed Mursi, their hapless, power-grabbing president, and for his Muslim Brotherhood movement: How exactly did the U.S. come to be seen by Egyptian secularists and liberals as the handmaiden of a cultish fundamentalist political party whose motto includes this heartening sentiment: “Jihad is our way, and dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope”?

Social Security Paid 1,546 Dead People $31 Million -- Deceased Collected Benefits Up to 20 Years

Excerpt: The entire Obamacare edifice rests on the deceptive assertion that the law’s primary purpose is to cover persons with pre-existing conditions. The president and his team never defend the vast majority of the law’s provisions. What they do claim is that Obamacare was necessary to protect Americans, especially the sick, from the unregulated abuses of the health insurance industry. That argument, misleading as it is, resonates to some degree with the public, which is why the administration keeps repeating it over and over again.

Excerpt: Healthy consumers could see insurance rates double or even triple when they look for individual coverage under the federal health law later this year, while the premiums paid by sicker people are set to become more affordable, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of coverage to be sold on the law's new exchanges. A review of rates proposed by carriers in eight states shows the likely boundaries for the least-expensive and most costly plans on the exchanges. The lower boundary is particularly important because the government wants to attract healthy people to the exchanges, and they may choose to pay a penalty and take the risk of going without coverage if they believe they can't get an acceptable deal. For a 40-year-old single nonsmoker -- in the middle of the age range eligible for exchanges -- a "bronze" plan covering about 60 percent of medical costs will be available for about $200 a month in most places, the proposals show. Though less generous than "silver" and "gold" plans on the exchanges, a bronze plan would still include fuller benefits than many policies available on the individual market today. The challenge for the law is that healthy 40 year olds can typically get coverage for less today, especially if they are willing to accept fewer benefits or take on more costs themselves.

Excerpt: In numbers released by Nielsen Media Research, MSNBC has fallen to third in the primetime race, behind CNN. But it gets worse for MSNBC, with its “total day” ranking dropping to fourth place, behind Fox News, CNN and HLN. This quarter marks the 46th straight quarter that Fox News has been first in “total day” and “primetime” as it continues to dominate the cable news show rankings. Fox held the top 13 programs in cable news based on total viewers for the entire quarter and claimed nine out of the top 10 programs in the 25-54 demographic. (Huh. Turns out editing news clips to fit your viewpoint isn’t that popular. ~Bob.)

Excerpt: I’m working with the president to put together his drone kill list and I noticed that you still haven’t donated to OFA yet. Maybe now’s the time to act? As you know, OFA is on the forefront helping to push the president’s agenda. I would hate for you to be killed by an air robot before you see us change America. More to come soon, but in the meantime, please take a minute out of your busy day to give us $5. Your life is worth $5, right?

Excerpt: The state of Florida’s politically driven decision to charge George Zimmerman with murder has resulted, as some of us predicted it would, in a pathetically weak case. It has taken only a few days of trial to collapse of its own weightlessness – undone, in fact, by the direct testimony of a prosecution witness, as Bryan Preston relates at the Tatler and Ed Morrissey details at Hot Air. (What is worrisome is the result of this case being dismissed. There will be screaming from the race-baiters and possibly some disturbances, even a riot is possible. And Zimmerman will have to spend the rest of his life watching out for some crazy guy bent on getting revenge for Trayvon. –Del. They may be afraid to acquit. ~Bob))

Excerpt: If you ask Kathleen Sebelius, everything good that happens is partly the result of health reform. When bad things happen, she either says nothing or blames the result on someone else. What’s the truth of the matter? Most of what the administration wanted to happen is not happening. But unintended things are happening — some good and some bad. What does this mean for the way doctors practice medicine? On the plus side, consumer-driven health care has been given a boost and entrepreneurs are responding with products that seem to be far removed from the accountable care model the administration is pushing. On the negative side, hospitals are merging and they are acquiring doctors. In the process, they are making the market less competitive, gaming third-party payment formulas and doing other things that make our health insurance premiums and our taxes higher than they otherwise would be.

Excerpt: A Sonoma State University student was ordered to remove a cross necklace by a supervisor who thought other students might find it offensive, in a case that prompted even one campus official to speculate that “political correctness got out of hand.” (OK, the good news is that this instantly scared the university people witless and they are anxious to apololgize and get this forgotten ASAP. The bad news is that some idiot really thought he could get away with this kind of insanely repressive and inappropriate treatment of a free person in a free country wearing a very reasonable bit of personal jewelry reflecting her faith. PC on steroids again. But so incredibly stupid that the school didn't hesitate a second to back the student and offer all kinds of regrets about this. –Del. Bet they would not have told a female Muslim student to remove her head scarf, which is a religious symbol. ~Bob.)

A tale of two economies: Chile has employed free-market principles to outperform Ecuador. by Richard Rahn

Excerpt: Chile and Ecuador provide an almost perfect test case of competing economic visions. Back in 1980, Ecuador had a slightly higher per capita income than Chile. In the past 33 years, Ecuador has increased its real per capita income a little more than threefold, but during the same period Chile has increased its per capita income more than sixfold. (A simple comparison between different approaches taken by somewhat similar nations. The results tell you what you want to know, without a dozen PhDs in Economics writing you a 50,000 word technical report. --Del)

Excerpt: Egypt's Tahrir Square has seen nearly hundred women falling victim to "rampant" sexual attacks during the past four days of protests against President Mohamed Morsi, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The global rights watchdog said on Wednesday that the mobs sexually assaulted "and in some cases raped at least 91 women" in Tahrir Square amid a climate of impunity. (As usual in a Muslim country, hard to tell who the “good guys” are. ~Bob.)

Excerpt: Newspapers, magazines, television programs, classrooms, and conversations all over America are awash in fraud which is being covered by the mantle of “science.” The birth of the Global Warming Fraud can be traced to a conference organized by anthropologist Margaret Mead, in 1975. You can read the paper documenting the conference attended by anti-human hoaxsters here. Anyone who dares to challenge this sacred majesterium of ”science” is a heretic and an ignoramus, according to advocates of The Global Warming Fraud.